While we're all counting down the days till the State Fair of Texas returns this fall, this weekend brings a little reminder of the tasty treats to come. Two concessionaires will appear on Food Network's Guy's Grocery Games at 7 p.m. Sunday, July 2.
Brent Reaves of Smokey John's BBQ and caterer Chef Cassy Jones, both of whom have created deep-fried dishes that have been finalists in the Big Tex Choice Awards, will appear on the "Carnival Games" episode of Guy Fieri's grocery store-themed game show.
Sunday’s episode is angled at fair goodness at its finest: the challenges are “something on a stick,” fried food, and elevated carnival dishes. Reaves and Jones, along with two other fair chefs, will play carnival-style games including spinning a wheel of chance to determine the ingredients for their fried classics, tossing balls to get their budgets for “something on a stick,” and popping balloons with darts to see which aisles they’ll get to shop in for ingredients for their "elevated carnival food," as described in the episode's online description.
Reaves, who has honed his craft over years of feeding hungry fairgoers and at Smokey John’s BBQ, is not a formally trained chef and says competing under the show’s time constraints was a serious challenge. “This was a pressure that is unparalleled,” he says.
Jones, who you might remember from previous years at the fair for her Fried Collard Greens and Big Tex Choice Award finalist Deep Fried Alligator's Egg Nest, says her experience cooking at the fair helped her to act quickly -- which is a good thing, as contestants find out the challenges right before the round begins. “I had no time to react,” Jones says.
Despite the high-pressure environment, her biggest surprise in the competition was how much fun she had, she says.
Larger-than-life personality Guy Fieri, who hosts the show, has spent plenty of time enjoying Texas's best food while touring on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. He has made his own contribution to the culinary scene in recent years, too, by opening a Guy's Burger Joint stand at Starplex Pavilion; another outpost is set to open in Arlington's Texas Live! development next year.
For Reaves, working with the spiky-haired chef was the best part of being on the show. “He's like the voice of reason, and the things he comes up with in pressure situations are amazing,” he says.
Tune in to Guy's Grocery Games to whet your appetite for all the fried food coming when the State Fair of Texas opens Sept. 29 in Fair Park, a neighborhood of Dallas. As for Reaves and Jones, neither has seen the episode yet and plan to watch it with family and friends.
